Thursday, January 1, 2015

It's time for some hook-ups. Namely, the 2015 Critique Partner Love Connection.

As many of you already know, I have two critique partners (Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff)
whom I love dearly. For the last 6+ years, they've read everything
I wrote before my editor ever got a look at it. Tessa and Brenna
critique, suggest, support, and mock whenever I need critique,
suggestions, support, or mockery. Our critique group is the
result of a long search — I went through numerous
writers' groups and one-on-one readers, and always felt that the edits
were missing something. I wanted to be critiqued, and yet I never wanted
to act upon the critiques I got. It took me a long time to realize that
I needed to find critique partners who enjoyed the same sort of
story-telling that I did; critique partners who weren't always
suggesting that I turn my novel into the sort of novel that I didn't
want to write. Also critique partners who communicated in the same way
as me — we do everything via gchat, informally, without structure or
rules.

So. I found Tessa and Brenna by posting a match-up
exactly like this one, and every year since then, I've done a match-up
for others to use. In the years in between, other resources for crit
partners have appeared on the internet, and I keep thinking I'll stop
getting requests to post one here. If anything, the requests have
multiplied. Possibly it's because the most difficult part of the
critique partner search remains the task of finding a human who enjoys
the same sorts of story-telling as you — maybe the mere fact of having me in common maybe takes some of that odiousness away. Whatever the reason, I keep getting asked, so here it is.

Here are the rules, such as I ever have rules:

STEP ONE:
Post a comment saying the age range (adult, YA, MG) of your project, a
brief, one-sentence blurb about your book (or just the genre if you
don’t want to share more than that), and whether or not you have an
agent, etc.*. Also include the last book you read that you loved and
also the book you feel epitomizes you as a reader. If you write in a
language other than English, include that info with the language in all
caps so it's easy to find while skimming the comments. Finish with a way to contact you.

*You
don't have to include the agent/ publication information unless it's
important to you to find a critique partner who is also agented/
published. I was agented/ published when I met Tessa/ Brenna; they were
not. It depends on the sort of support you're looking for.

STEP TWO:
If someone else in the comments sounds like a possible match, send them
a message saying so and find out if it’s mutual. If it is, exchange the
first 50 pages of your manuscripts, critique them, and return said
critiques. If either of you doesn’t feel like the crit relationship is
working at that point, you get to smile and say thanks and walk away without any questions asked. This is VERY IMPORTANT.This ability to shake hands and part ways without hard feelings is the reason why this process
works. Sometimes it takes a few exchanges before you realize it's not a
good match. Don't feel pressured into sticking with each other —
remember that this is honest speed dating and a 'not for me!' is not a
rejection based upon merit.

NOTE: I myself am not looking
for critters. Two partners is enough for me — I can’t keep up with
anymore. I recommend definitely two or three partners for best results.
That way when someone says “this sucks!” and someone else says “does
not!” you can be the tie breaker. But if they both say “this sucks!” and
you say “does not!” it means you’re wrong.

FURTHER NOTE: I don't
read the comments, really. My imaginary assistant Halfred and I monitor
them infrequently only for spam-deletion purposes.

It
delights me when writers come up through my signing line and let me
know they met their critique partners through me. I can't imagine
writing professionally without Tessa and Brenna, so it's nice to think I
can pay that forward. Happy hunting.

13 comments:

I'm working on a YA Fantasy currently, but I also write MG. I have an agent.I love stories that are unique and strange like Maggie's. My favorite reads in 2014 were These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner and the Raven Cycle books by the one only Maggie Stiefvater.

Hello all! I write within a variety of genres. The two projects I'm hoping to find a CP for are:

The Three Year War (YA, Sci-Fi) - New age witch hunt for the mentally unstable within what used to be North America.

Montgomery's Diary (New Adult, Sci-Fi, Fantasy) - Schizophrenic actress attends a couple's retreat only to become trapped on an island that won't let her go.

I don't have an agent. And I had a pretty rough reading year last year (only got in about 12 books) but a few books I liked from last year were The Golem & The Jinni, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and Blue Lily, Lily Blue.

Re-Post... I'm currently working on a YA Urban fantasy and a Time Travel Contemporary Fantasy. I'm also attempting to plot a MG/Urban Fantasy. The main novel I am working on involves shape-shifting teens living in an abandoned amusement park. The monsters that they change in to have to do with how they died. Their quiet existence is shaken up a bit with one meets a human.

I am a children's book illustrator and have been published, but not as an author.

The last 2 books that I've read and loved are The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Scorpio Races.

We all need challenges in our life to keep motivated. I really had a great time scanning and reading your blog site and i was so amazed with your great artwork. I do hope you could inspire more readers. You can also visit my site for some interesting stuff.

Yo, I’m David (Harrison is my pen name). I’m writing a fantasy that is sort of like Game of Thrones meets The Dark Tower but for the YA crowd. My book, The Unraveler, is about a young Prince that meets a skeletal rat on a quest to cure a plague. No agent, yet.

I’m looking for a critique partner over the age of 21 (I’m 28) and only for other writers who want criticism in return (not just readers). I write novel-length work, and I love blunt/honest criticism rather than being buttered up. Finally, I would love to find someone in the St. Louis-area, because it would be awesome to be able to meet up at a café and talk.

Contact me by email: oxyborb@gmail.comsee more about me at: http://www.harrisonaye.com

Hello, I write YA and mystery. I self publish and I NaNo, but for the remaining eleven months of the year it's just me and my inflated ego. I am a character driven writer, and humor is my favorite story telling device. Also dialogue - perhaps too much dialogue. I love Nick Hornby and Dave Eggers, but I'm not sure I sound like either one. I'm looking for critique partners who are unpublished or self-published and want to mature as writers, because that's where I'm at right now.My email is judith.m.boswell at gmail

I write 20th century historical, both adult and YA-ish (with young main characters but not specifically intended as YA). I tend towards family and town sagas. I most would appreciate a CP for my secondary WIP, an alternative history set from 1918–45. Tagline: A sickly, unexpected boy Tsar defies expectations by surviving into adulthood with much-improved health, and breaks with draconian Imperial traditions to become the most beloved ruler in history.

My favorite book read in 2014 might be Charles R. Pellegrino's Last Train from Hiroshima. The book that epitomizes me as a reader is probably my all-time favorite, Hermann Hesse's Demian.

I like friendly but honest critiques. I'm not a fan of the modern trend of ripping everything apart and only mentioning what you hated. I want strengths and questions pointed out, with suggestions for how to make something clearer or more detailed, instead of told I need to rewrite something the way another person would've written it.

Hi everyone! I'm a young writer. seriously, I'm 16. I love reading so last year I wrote a novel and I am currently writing a second, following on from the first.

It's YA, sci-fi with a little romance. It's about a young alien girl trying to live a normal human life. It's about her relationships with other characters and how they change throughout the story. It involves bullying and my hope was that the people who read it would be able to be more aware of others and their actions.

I am looking for a critique partner because I want to be able to improve my writing and my critiquing.Contact me at: maddieh872@gmail.com

Hey guys! I thought I'd post on here, because I am looking for a better community in my life with people who write and share a love of the craft. I am currently writing YA novels, and I have several projects on board. One is a multi-perspective novel dwelling on the different sides of war and how friendship and family prevail even during the most violent of times. Another is about the truth of magic and legend and how believing in them can affect your destiny. Those are very vague details, but if you'd like to hear more I'd be happy to share! I am not agented, but I have begun the journey of this. The book I just recently finished is called Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. Check it out if you haven't heard about it! It's absolutely brilliant. Hope to hear from you!

Aw, this was a very nice post. In thought I would like to put in writing like this additionally – taking time and precise effort to make a very good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and on no account seem to get something done. casino slots

About Me

After a tumultuous past as a history major, calligraphy instructor, wedding musician, technical editor, and equestrian artist, I'm now a full-time writer living in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, with my charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, four neurotic dogs who fart recreationally, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.
I'm also an award-winning colored pencil artist, play several musical instruments (most infamously, the bagpipes), and recently acquired a race car.